


Ethology of the Modern Werewolf

by strangehighs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Post-Canon, Romance, Very light smut, werewolf behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:54:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangehighs/pseuds/strangehighs
Summary: Ethology (noun)-the study of animal behavior.Severus notices a few quirks in Remus' behavior after they start dating. For the sake of research, he decides to investigate the matters further.
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Comments: 17
Kudos: 172





	Ethology of the Modern Werewolf

Heaven knows Severus was guilty of many canine related puns aimed at Remus' general direction over the years ever since he found out about his _furry little problem_ , but it was only after they started dating that he started to notice that _maybe_ they weren't just senseless, meaningless jabs.

Literature about werewolves should always be taken with an enormous, humongous grain of salt, almost entirely produced by people with no first hand knowledge about the creatures at all. Remus himself didn't seem to notice most of the things that caught Severus' attention, so used to himself and his condition that he was, and so small a thing they usually were you'd only notice by living with a werewolf over a long period of time. In very close quarters at that.

(He supposed he could ask Nymphadora; as Remus' ex-wife, mother of his child and current drinking buddy, she was the one other person that was bound to have noticed these things.)

(He would never ask her, not even under torture. There was no way to ask if one's ex-husband was a hair sniffing freak or if he was going crazy, and come out with any pride left. She was enjoying herself enough needling him about his current partner, drinking from the same well he criticized her so much for and all that crap. No reason to give her more ammunition.)

In fact, it _was_ the hair sniffing that aroused his suspicions in the first place. No matter what position they went to sleep in, they always woke up with Remus' face pressed tightly against either his neck or hair, breathing deep and soundly against his skin. He would tell himself that it was a perfectly normal thing, to enjoy and feel comforted by your partner's scent, until he simply couldn't ignore that Remus had a tendency to get a little more caught up in it than strictly normal.

"Remus, ah," he bit back a moan, a clever hand twisting and turning just right cutting through his protest. _Focus_ , he thought.

Grabbing two fistfuls of hair, he pulled Remus' face away from his groin, where he'd buried his nose entire five minutes ago and hadn't given any indication of moving on so far, even if his hands had roamed most pleasantly the entire time. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it—he did, his current predicament a clear indication of how much he enjoyed it—but it was getting out of hand. He held the wavy hair more firmly when Remus made to go back, eyes glazed over and single minded.

"As much as I love your, ah, dedication," he said, breath catching because he _still_ didn't stop his hands, "Do you think you could move on? There's another bit not very far that would love that attention."

Soft eyes turned to him slowly, focus sharpening at the same time a mischievous smirk bloomed on his face, and Severus shivered. He spared a moment to contemplate that he didn’t remember being this horny even as a teenager, before that amazing white noise filled his head completely.

Later, while they laid over the covers a good foot apart from each other but still sweltering in the summer heat, Severus couldn’t stop thinking. And thinking some more. Looking at the man laying peacefully beside him, he decided it was time to research and observe, maybe even experiment; in fact, why not start now? He threw an arm over his sweaty, sticky lover, purely as a means to test if they’d wake up with Remus nuzzling him again, and smiled himself to sleep.

Over the next days he started compiling his observations: Remus _did_ have a thing for scenting people he particularly cared about. He caught him with his nose buried on Teddy’s hair on more than one occasion, just breathing in peacefully while hugging the boy, or a quick nuzzle while he passed him by in the house. The same happened with Potter’s kids, and even Potter himself. Severus told himself he did not feel a small, unwanted stab of jealousy when he saw him doing it on Nymphadora, but he trampled it as hard as he could all the same; it was an unconscious thing and he wouldn’t let himself get carried away when he knew he had nothing to fear.

He knew Remus had no hunting instinct towards animals even while shifted, meaning he could cross that from his list without double checking. It would be an awkward thing to try anyway, so he was glad. No chasing behavior either, given he had no interest in quidditch beside a normal amount of cheering for others. He spent a few weeks stumped on his one discovery, to the point he started to second guess himself.

Unsurprisingly, the second breakthrough also came from the bedroom, though this time from an innocuous cuddling session. Laying with his head pillowed on Remus’ belly, Severus watched lazily while he read his newest paperback, admiring the way the hair along his front caught the lamp light. Unlike Severus’ sorry excuse for chest hair (entirely comprised of a few brave survivors around his chest), Remus boasted a full pelt—and wasn’t that a ready-made joke in itself—from his collarbones down to his groin, now almost entirely grey. The soft thump of his pulse was usually effective in lulling Severus to sleep, but he suddenly remembered his last visit to Draco and little Scorpius’ instructions on where to pet his new crup, and then he was wide awake.

Tentatively, he reached a hand up his chest, scratching gently just under the collarbones. He kept a soft rhythm, noticing Remus starting to drop his book, eyes closing in bliss, and then Severus stopped. Immediately, exactly like the wriggling puppy, his lover snapped his gaze to him, taking hand and placing it back on his chest. He resumed his petting, grinning to himself, playfully interrupting it a few more times, earning himself a disgruntled _Severus_ before he was satisfied. He settled to sleep contently after ticking another item from his mental list.

Following that line, Severus made his next experiment a few days later as they watched Teddy flying his brand new dragon shaped kite. Severus’ reservations towards children had been meticulously chipped away during the years, mostly without his consent but, to his ever lasting surprise, he found out didn’t mind. With Potter insisting on including him on his makeshift family it meant he was constantly in contact with one Weasley kid or another; Teddy was certainly less trouble than Bill’s blond menaces.

Remus had settled between his legs after some time, warm after helping his son hike the kite up under Severus’ bemused watch from under the shade of a peach tree. Resting his head against his chest, Remus sighed, his expanding back pressing Severus against the trunk, earning him a poke in the ribs. He directed an apologetic smile upwards and wriggled to get himself comfortable. The sight of his flushed ears peeking through the wavy hair pushed Severus to act.

Remus melted against him, falling into a doze in record time, as he toyed with his ears. In the next days, he used it to much success as frequently as he could, making Remus relaxed and content with little to no effort. So heady was his success he forgot himself during one of Potter’s summer gatherings and he was _noticed_.

“So, Severus,” said Nymphadora, brightly as she always did when she talked to him these days. The perks of having the upper hand, he supposed. “I see you noticed Remus’ quirks way faster than me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” answered Severus stiffly, downing half his punch in one gulp. He’d completely lost his abilities at subterfuge over the years, a shame.

“Oh, come on, I saw you just now. If you learned about the ears already, I’m sure you know some of the others. The chest scritches, maybe?” She didn’t let his silence stop her, continuing the conversation one-sided as it was. “He’s a smart guy, our Remus, but he’s got a huge blind spot when it comes to his wolf. I don’t think he knows…”

She trailed off, fondly watching Remus and Teddy bickering over the snacks table; Severus was sure his own expression wasn’t much far from hers. “I agree,” he said after a beat.

“I knew it!” she exclaimed, laughing. “What else did you got already? The chest scritches?” He nodded. “C’mon, what else?”

“The, hm, the sniffing.”

Nymphadora snorted, “Of course you’d notice that one.” She came closer, lowering her tone. “I do think the biting is one of them too—”

Needless to mention he avoided Nymphadora like the plague after choking so hard on his punch Remus had to come to his rescue, while Nymphadora doubled over with laughter, flashing colors like a mad rainbow; they ended up leaving the gathering early, Remus’ thoroughly confused at his flustered state.

The worst part of it was that she was _right_.

His next discovery was less pleasant than the first three (four if you counted the one Nymphadora mentioned), at least in his opinion. Severus had been a consummate sedentary through all his life, unless you counted running after Potter for six years, and he had no real intention on changing that. Remus, on the other hand, while he proclaimed his love for lazing about as much as possible, went into a frenzy if confined inside for too long. As such, he took to going on long walks almost daily and, to Severus' displeasure, insisted on taking him along.

"Come on, Sev," he urged, entirely too excited for his tastes, "We're going to miss it if you don't hurry!"

"I haven't walked this much in at least ten years," Severus wheezed, much to his shame, "Have a little mercy."

"Pish, I know exactly how much stamina you have." The impudent thing waggled his eyebrows at Severus' flush. "Come on, move those legs—no, that's cheating!"

Severus floated smoothly past Remus, smirking at his lover skipping over boulders and tree roots on the trail up the hill. With one last jump, Remus caught hold of one of his legs, hugging his hips tight to his chest.

"Caught you," he breathed, flushed and happy, and Severus' heart almost beat out of his chest. Remus placed a kiss on his navel, while Severus ran his hands through the hay colored hair darkened with sweat. "Look, we made it in time. Isn't it beautiful?"

Severus spared a glance to the rising sun, streaming pinks and golds on the landscape, before turning back to the man holding him.

"I agree."

In the end, Severus decided to retire his list. His sample was too little to matter scientifically, and he had absolutely no interest in any other test subjects except for the one he woke up to daily. He doubted any other could be half as good anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Soft fluffy one shot conceived and written in a few hours. I can't accept werewolves don't have any weird canine behaviors outside of full moons. Also I refuse to do Tonks dirty even if I wanna ship my boys, so.  
> As always, you can find me at [my tumblr](https://scverussnape.tumblr.com/).


End file.
